A woman shouts as she and hundreds of other protesters block traffic during a rally held to show opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday June 17, 2014. The federal government is giving a conditional green light to Enbridge Inc.'s controversial $7-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project between the Alberta oilsands and the B.C. coast.Darryl Dyck
/ Canadian Press

A group of protesters gathers outside the Northern Gateway hearings in Prince Rupert, B.C. Monday, December, 10, 2012. The proposed 1,177-kilometre twin pipelines would run from Bruderheim, just outside Edmonton, to a tanker port in Kitimat, on the northern coast of B.C.Jonathan Hayward
/ The Canadian Press

0617northerngatewaypipelineCXNDean Tweed
/ Ottawa Citizen

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau respond to the governments decision to approve the Northern Gateway pipeline Tuesday June 17, 2014 in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Douglas Channel, the proposed shipping route for oil tanker ships in the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, just south of Kitmat, B.C., is pictured on Jan. 10, 2012.Darryl Dyck
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

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EDMONTON - The political battle over the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline is expected to accelerate sharply as First Nations, environmental groups and politicians of various stripes vow to fight the massive project following its approval Tuesday by the federal government.

The NDP and Liberal leaders insisted the pipeline won’t proceed if either wins the 2015 federal election.

The Conservative government OK’d the pipeline, but subject to 209 conditions imposed by the National Energy Board joint review panel, which green-lighted the proposal last December.

The 1,178-kilometre Northern Gateway pipeline is meant to transport up to 525,000 barrels of oil a day from Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton, to the deepwater port of Kitimat in northwestern B.C., where the oilsands product would be loaded onto supertankers and shipped to new Pacific Rim markets.

A second, smaller eastbound pipeline would carry 193,000 barrels of condensate per day from Kitimat to Bruderheim. Condensate is used to thin oil for pipeline transport.

In granting its conditional support, Stephen Harper’s government said pipeline company Enbridge must demonstrate how it can meet all 209 points, and said the company “clearly has more work to do” to consult with aboriginals and communities worried about the project.

“After carefully reviewing the report, the government accepts the independent panel’s recommendation to impose 209 conditions” on the project, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said in a written statement.

It was the only official federal comment Tuesday on the announcement, which triggered a firestorm of outrage across the country.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair called the project a “severe threat to social peace” while Green party Leader Elizabeth May proclaimed the pipeline would never be built.

But Alberta Premier Dave Hancock called the decision “a step forward” in Alberta’s campaign to access new markets for energy resources.

“New markets for our products will create and support more jobs, and generate increased revenue to help pay for vital public services like quality health care and education for all Canadians,” Hancock said in a statement. “Alberta will continue to support all safe and viable options to diversify and expand market access for Canada’s resources.”

Hancock said getting bitumen to market is vital to addressing the increased demand as well as a key factor in the country’s economic prosperity.

“We recognize there is still much work to be done with the Northern Gateway project and we look forward to the opportunities it presents for all Canadians.”

Alberta Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith was among the skeptical.

“I’m hopeful construction will begin on this project right away,” Smith said in a statement. “However, I remain skeptical. I believe we will likely still have challenges to address to see this project become a reality.”

Art Sterrit of Coastal First Nations also said the pipeline will be never be built.

“First Nations and others in British Columbia won’t allow it, and they have the legal power to prevent it,” he said. “This pipeline is doomed because it is highly risky and provides no reward to the people being asked to bear that risk.”

Construction of the twinned pipeline could start by next year and it could be in operation by late 2018, but more likely in 2019.

Enbridge estimates the pipeline will cost $6.5 billion, while the NEB says the entire project — including the marine terminal — will cost $7.9 billion.

A number of potential legal challenges and other obstacles remain in the way of the pipeline being built.

Kitimat residents recently voted against the pipeline in a non-binding plebiscite. And leaders of B.C.’s most powerful aboriginal groups fiercely oppose Northern Gateway, including the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit and the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.

Also, the B.C. government has set five conditions that must be met before it would support the project, including: “world-leading” oil spill prevention, response and recovery on land and coastal waters; addressing First Nations’ treaty rights and ensuring aboriginals benefit from heavy-oil projects; and ensuring the province gets what it considers a fair share of the economic benefits.

B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said Tuesday the five conditions have not been met and that “there is still much work to be done” if the pipeline is to be built in the province.

As part of its decision, the federal Conservative cabinet had to determine whether the project was likely “to cause significant adverse environmental effects” and, if so, whether those effects were “justified in the circumstances.”

“It is most disconcerting that the federal government has chosen to gloss over the risk of oil spills and the environmental harm that such spills would cause,” said Stephen Hazell, interim executive director of Nature Canada. “The expert evidence before the panel was that there is one in four chance that a pipeline has a major spill in its lifespan.”

Mike Hudema, Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, called on the B.C. government to stand strong on the five conditions it has attached to its support for the project.

“With today’s approval Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet have ignored the voices of the vast majority of British Columbians and the rights of over 130 First Nations, who have said repeatedly they do not want this dangerous tarsands pipeline,” he said in a statement.

Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said the pipeline threatens the B.C. coastal economy and the jobs of thousands who live along the shore.

“If I win the honour of serving as prime minister, the Northern Gateway pipeline will not happen,” Trudeau said. “This current government has been nothing but a cheerleader for this pipeline from the very beginning, when Canadians needed a referee.”

The political stakes are enormous, especially for the federal Conservatives. The Tories hold 21 federal seats in British Columbia, the NDP 12 seats, the Liberals two and the Green party one seat — with redrawn ridings and six new seats in B.C. for the 2015 federal election.

The National Energy Board panel, in its December approval, said the project is in the public interest and that its “construction and routine operation … would cause no significant adverse environmental effects.”

With the government’s approval, the energy board now is required to issue the “certificates of public convenience and necessity” that are required for Enbridge to build and operate the pipeline.

But Enbridge must also seek approval from the energy board for the detailed pipeline route and final right of way. If objections are filed within 30 days, the board must hold public hearings on the route in the affected areas.

Enbridge chief executive Al Monaco said the company will now focus on meeting the energy board panel’s conditions, working with the B.C. government on the provincial requirements, and “continuing to engage aboriginal communities to build further trust” and improve the project.

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